President Obama and Mitt Romney continued to lead the presidential campaign fundraising field in January 2012, despite a slowdown their fundraising pace. Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul for the first time raised almost as much as Romney, although Romney remained ahead of them in cash on hand.

On September 30, the presidential candidates of 2012 will close their financial books for the third quarter of 2011. Their official reports are not due to be filed at the Federal Election Commission until October 15, but we can be sure there will be a great deal of press coverage of whatever information the candidates choose to make available on September 30.

Barack Obama's relative success in raising campaign funds from small donors during the 2008 primary season is well known. Not as well known is that Obama raised an even higher percentage from donors of $200 or less during the general election.

More than a month after the due date for 2007 year-end Senate candidate campaign finance reports, CFI is finally able to provide the public with comprehensive information about candidates’ fundraising including sources of support.

Early signs from the nine-month financial reports House candidates filed with the Federal Election Commission in October suggest that Republicans may have a hard time making inroads into the majority that Democrats captured in 2006. Less than one-quarter (22%) of the 229 House Democrats seeking reelection in 2008 face challengers who filed any financial reports at this stage with the FEC at all.

Congressional Democrats have been gearing up their fundraising early, expecting a battle in their effort to retain majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives. At the six month point of the off-year, congressional Democrats on average raised 42 percent more (and had 14 percent more cash in hand) than Democratic incumbents at this same point two years ago.

The presidential candidates of 2007 raised and spent record amounts in the second quarter of 2007, according to the Campaign Finance Institute's analysis of campaign disclosure reports filed July 15 with the Federal Election Commission. Here are a few of the more interesting facts that leap on first inspection.

Less than 3 months before the November election, the latest House of Representatives fundraising figures show that Democrats in potentially competitive districts are in their best financial position in the last 6 years. However, Republicans have gained some financial ground against select vulnerable Democratic members.

Democratic candidates are mobilizing the resources necessary to challenge the Republicans' 15-seat margin of control of the House of Representatives, according to a Campaign Finance Institute analysis of first-quarter financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission in April.1 The number of currently competitive races is still fairly modest (42 seats, 30 of which are now held by Republicans). While the odds do not favor a net shift of 15 seats within so small a playing field, the chances would increase if there were a tide of public sentiment affecting public perceptions of the major parties or partisan turnout.

A CFI analysis of the first nine months of fundraising for House races shows that there is active major party rivalry in 40 potentially competitive contests: 32 incumbent vs. challenger and 8 open seat. There were only 29 such races at this time two years ago.

Like Lance Armstrong, the 2005 Tour de France bicycling champion who established his dominant position in the earliest stages of the long race, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are off to a roaring start in the race for campaign cash.

Democratic challengers running against Republican incumbents in thirteen races identified by the nonpartisan Cook Report as being competitive (either a "tossup" race or leaning toward one or the other party) raised an average of $130,396 between October 1st and October 13th, according to a Campaign Finance Institute analysis of data filed October 21 with the Federal Election Commission.

The Campaign Finance Institute is introducing a new resource on its web site to let reporters, students and all interested citizens follow the role of money in the key House and Senate election races that will determine which party controls Congress. The new data can be reached on the Key Races 2000 page on CFI;s Web site, www.CFInst.org. In announcing the new site, the Campaign Finance Institute's (CFI) executive director, Michael Malbin, explained its purpose. "We developed this website to help bring a public focus on the same races that are getting all the attention behind the scenes from the political pros."